EVANSVILLE – The University of Evansville women's basketball team fell victim to a big third quarter run by visiting Drake on Sunday afternoon, dropping a 73-48 decision at the Ford Center.
"I think we did some good things defensively, but we have to finish those possessions" UE head coach Matt Ruffing said. "They had 20 offensive rebounds and 23 points off of those. That's a back-breaker, especially when you see how that run played out in the third quarter. We kept fighting when things weren't going our way, but we couldn't get that defensive rebound when we needed it."
The Purple Aces (8-14, 3-8 Missouri Valley Conference) kicked off the second half with five quick points to make it a one-possession game, and they'd do so on one other occasion in the third quarter to hang with the league-leading Bulldogs. However, following a pair of Camary Williams free throws that cut the deficit to 44-39 with a little less than three minutes left in the frame, Drake ran off 14 consecutive points to close it out.
Lizzy Wendell, the leading scorer in the Valley, answered Williams' freebies with two on the other end, and then Brenni Rose followed up a missed Macie Lively three with one of her own to push the lead back out to double digits. Becca Jonas was fouled on a layup to set up an old-fashioned three-point play, but she missed the free throw only for it to land in the hands of Nicole Miller for another three. Layups from Becca Hittner and Sammie Bachrodt sent the game into the fourth with Evansville trailing 58-39.
Bachrodt led the Bulldogs (18-4, 11-0 MVC) with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Jonas also finished with a double-double with 11 points and 14 boards. Hittner and Wendell added 11 apiece and Miller ended with 10.
Meanwhile, the Aces were led by Williams, who scored a game-best 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and five steals. Sara Dickey was the only other player in double figures, ending with 12 points and seven boards.
Overall, the Aces were out-shot 40.3% to 27.5%, and the Bulldogs, who have now won 12 consecutive games, held a 50-32 advantage in rebounds.
UE will return to action next week with a road swing for games at Wichita State and Missouri State.
NOTES: Sasha Robinson has now recorded 771 career rebounds. She is chasing Jamie Gray (200-04), who finished her career with 811, for third on UE's all-time rebounding list … Sara Dickey, UE's all-time leading scorer with 1,965 points, is 31 away from tying Drake's Jan Jensen (1987-91) for the eighth-best total in league history … UE is 14-40 all-time against Drake, which includes an 7-16 mark in Evansville … UE is 33-72 all-time against schools from the state of Iowa.
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